A former Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officer pleaded guilty Thursday to charges prosecutors said stemmed from a sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southern Montana, according to court documents described by federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Murrell Deela, who was then an officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, encountered the girl in August 2024 at a gas station on the reservation. Prosecutors said the girl tried to run and that Deela used a “takedown maneuver,” placing her in the back of his patrol car before driving to an unlit park where the assault occurred, according to the documents.
Prosecutors said Deela later took the teen to her grandmother’s house. They said the girl reported the assault the next day.
Prosecutors said investigators later asked Deela to download video footage from his patrol car from the night of the assault. They said Deela reported that his patrol car had burned in a fire, and that investigators determined the fire had been intentionally lit.
The filings described by prosecutors said Deela’s fingerprints were the only ones found on the vehicle. Prosecutors said Deela also pleaded guilty to lying to investigators.
In a statement, FBI Special Agent in Charge Justin Gerken said the case outcome reflected the victim’s courage in coming forward and described Deela’s actions as “a betrayal of everything law enforcement stands for.”
Prosecutors said the sexual abuse charge carries a maximum punishment of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. They said Deela’s lying-to-investigators plea carries a maximum of eight years in prison, and they said he could serve a shorter sentence under a plea deal.
A sentencing date before U.S. District Judge Bill Mercer was not immediately scheduled. The Associated Press reported that it left a telephone message with Deela’s attorneys seeking comment.